After ten years a cheetah meets her first crush at the Crossroads, and when she mounts the stallion, sparks fly and everything happens fast.

Rayna is a cheetah raised by otters. She got a free pass to the Crossroads, courtesy of her deceased parents. Tired of trying to find a cheetah or any other shifter that could wake her senses, she begins to work through the mate-seeking candidates at the Crossroads. If she couldn’t have her schoolgirl crush, she would have to make do.

Born to a steadfast horse-shifter family, Gregory was in love with Rayna, but an interception of an assignation note and their lives veered in two different directions. Now, he is at the Crossroads and more than his spirits rise when he sees the love of his life and knows that the timing is finally perfect.

Excerpt:

He grinned, his sandy hair falling attractively over one dark brown eye. “It is good to see you again. What brings you here?”

She snorted. “A transporter. You?”

“The same.” He tossed his head, and his hair slid back only to resume its position a moment later.

Rayna could see Chuck, and he was grinning as he polished glasses.

“Well, I have had all the fun I can handle for one night. If you want to hit the dance floor, the ladies are scattered. I am sure you can find someone to suit you.”

“You have always been far too particular. Would you care to dance?”

Her heart pounded and her palms sweated. She had had a crush on him since she was ten. No one ran like Gregory Daywell.

She slugged back her virgin daiquiri and got to her feet. “Fine. Sure. Let’s go.”

“Not an enthusiastic endorsement, but I will take it.”

Rayna smiled and took the hand he extended, letting him tug her to the dance floor. He turned her, and she was against him while a slow song had them rocking together. It was effortless the moment that she let herself relax.

“I thought you were married already, Rayna.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Leyline told me you were running away from home to be with a boy. I just thought it sounded likely.”

She blinked back tears. “No, that wasn’t the case. I had to leave to keep from injuring someone.”

“Ah, the predator problem.”

“Something like that. I was too territorial for my own good, and it broke my heart.” She smiled sadly at the memory.

Leyline had told her that Gregory was about to propose. Leyline was eighteen and Rayna sixteen at the time. Rayna had wanted to tear her older sister’s throat out, so she contacted Aunt Reggie and a few hours and a conversation with Justine later, Rayna was on her way to the city with Reggie as her guardian.

She had money, she had ambition, so she finished her education and tried to forget the man who was going to be her brother…only he wasn’t. He and Leyline broke up before a proposal was ever tendered, but by then, Rayna had begun a new life with new school and new friends.

He frowned. “What were you territorial about?”

“I had an inappropriate crush.”

“What species? Did you fancy a human?”

He continued to sway against her, and she slid her body against his, chuckling quietly at the reaction he couldn’t supress.

“No, he wasn’t a human. He was a runner.” She sighed and felt it best to get it out in the open, but she couldn’t make herself say it straight out.

“Really? I don’t recall too many shifters on the track team.”

She looked up at him. “There was one.”

He stopped in mid-sway. He blinked, and she read a confusion of emotions in his features.

“Never mind. It was a long time ago. Excuse me.” She headed to the bar and told Chuck she was retiring for the night.

He looked back toward the dance floor, but she didn’t. With her head high and a wave to a few of the regulars, she left the Crossed Star bar and headed to the Open Heart Bed and Breakfast.